Choir of 3,500 to sing 'Clouds' at Mall of America on Thursday

When the choir director at Skyview Middle School in Oakdale heard about plans for a gigantic "Clouds" sing-along at the Mall of America, she registered right away.

Choir director Melanie Tlusty said she decided to take 100 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders and their family members to honor the late singer-songwriter Zach Sobiech and show support for his family.

"This is a really good opportunity for them to feel like they are a part of something," Tlusty said. "This is a way that they can contribute with their voices, and that's something that is important. Not everyone can donate money, but we can show a Minnesota connection and be a support group for the family."

Tlusty's students will be in a choir of 3,500 people, which will take over the four floors of the mall around the rotunda for a 6 p.m. Thursday performance. Spectators are welcome but are advised to arrive early to secure a viewing spot.

The event is being organized by the KS95 for Kids Radiothon, which is being held Thursday and Friday. The two-day annual radiothon, a benefit for the Children's Cancer Research Fund and Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare, has raised more than $12 million since it was started in 1999.

Sobiech, who died of cancer in May at age 18, got his first big break during the radiothon last year. "Clouds," which has received more than 8.8 million hits on YouTube and reached No.

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1 on the iTunes singles chart, debuted on the station Dec. 6, 2012.

Dan Seeman, vice president and market manager for KS95/Hubbard Radio in St. Paul, said the choir performance is a fitting tribute to Sobiech on the first anniversary of the debut.

"This song has touched so many people in so many ways that I think there is nothing more fitting than to let the people come out and sing it," Seeman said. "It's been covered by everybody from Vicci Martinez to Matchbox 20, but it's really the people's song.

Zach Sobiech, left, plays guitar as his friend Sammy Brown sings their song "Star Hopping" for a recording at the School of Music & Mayhem in Lakeland on Dec. 3, 2012. (Pioneer Press: Ben Garvin)

It's for kids. It's for adults. It's for seniors. It's for everyone. And this choir is just going to be everyone."

KS95 originally hoped for a choir of 1,000 singers. Within two days, people from the radio station were asking mall officials for a cut-off number. They settled on 3,500.

The choir will be conducted by Karl Demer, a producer at Atomic K Records in Minneapolis. Wooly Rhino, the production company that did the "Clouds" music video, will tape the performance and release it at 7 a.m. Friday on KS95.com.

Skyview's Tlusty said the song resonates with her students.

"We hear about cancer all the time, but I think for these kids, seeing a student who is in their area, who has the same type of family, who is a Minnesota resident, it hits home a little bit," she said. "We talk a lot in my classroom about how fortunate we are to be here and to be making music together and that that was something that (Sobiech) valued very, very much."

Tlusty said it's a beautiful thing to express yourself through music.

"What the (students) are starting to understand is that it doesn't take a rock star to create a song," she said.

Hearing "Clouds" -- a song Sobiech wrote to say farewell to family and friends -- performed by thousands of singers in four-part harmony will be surreal, said his mother, Laura Sobiech of Lakeland.

"It's humbling. It's amazing. It's heartbreaking. It's all of that wrapped up," Sobiech said. "The Twin Cities have been so good to us. To actually see the number of people come out, I think, is going to be overwhelming, but beautiful ... and that's just how the whole last year has been."

Proceeds from the sale of "Clouds" benefit the Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Fund. To date, more than $626,000 has been raised -- from more than 200,000 people around the world.